Three Juniata Volleyball Athletes Earn All-America Honor

(Posted December 8, 2003)

Huntingdon, PA ? Juniata College junior setter Carli Dale (Cochranton/Cochranton) and sophomore middle hitter Katie Laucks (West York/York) were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America first team, while senior libero Johanna Holtan (Fargo North/Fargo, N.D.) was picked for the second-team. The honor marks the second time that Dale has received All-America recognition; she was a second-team selection following her sophomore season. Laucks and Holtan were both named to the All-America teams for the first times in their careers.

All three players have earned numerous postseason honors. The trio each earned a spot on the AVCA All-Region Team for the Mid-Atlantic Region, and Dale and Laucks were both first-team All-Conference choices, while Holtan was named to the second-team. Dale was also picked as the Commonwealth Conference player of the year.

After earning second-team All-America honors last season Dale stated her case this season as the best setter in the country. She led NCAA Division III in assists per game with an average of 13.55 assists per contest. She closed out the season with 1,504 assists.

Dale was also a force defensively for Juniata as she was second on the team with 396 digs, while adding 40 blocks. Twenty-one times during the season Dale passed out 40 or more assists in a match, while topping 50 assists eight times and 60 assists on three occasions. She directed the Juniata offense to a .280 attack percentage on the season. Her season best of 68 assists came in a 3-1 victory over Trinity (Texas). She reached double figures in digs 18 times on the season and recorded a career best 30 digs in a win over La Verne.

Dale closes the season with 4,683 assists for her career, which leaves her in second place in Juniata history in career assists. She was named the AVCA/Sports Imports Division III Player of the Week after earning tournament MVP honors at the Emory National Invitational.

After being named an honorable mention All-Region player as a freshman, Laucks has captured her first All-America honors as a sophomore. The Eagle middle hitter led the team with 445 kills on the season, while recording a .357 attack percentage. She was also best on the team with 58 serve aces and 78 blocks. Laucks pounded out double-digit kill performances in 25 matches, and topped the 20-kill plateau twice. She notched a career-high 28 kills in an NCAA Quarterfinal match against NYU, and recorded 23 kills against La Verne.

Laucks recorded a season-high six blocks on two occasions, one of them in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Championship match. She set a career-high with seven serve aces in the Mid-Atlantic Regional semifinals. Laucks hit .350 or better in 21 of the 39 matches she played in during the season. She earned Commonwealth Conference player of the week honors on two occasions.

Holtan earned her first All-America honors after leading Juniata with 659 digs and 5.36 digs per game as a senior. She wraps up her career with 2,300 digs, leaving her second in Juniata history and eighth in NCAA Division III history in career digs. Her 659 digs as a senior is the fourth-highest single-season dig total in school history.

Holtan reached double figures in digs 32 times during the season, including her career high of 41 against La Verne. She had 20 or more digs on 12 occasions, and topped the 30-dig mark three times. Each of Holtan?s four seasons ranks her on Juniata?s top 10 for digs in a season. She brought up 478 attacks as a freshman, 456 as a sophomore and then 707 in her first season as the team?s libero. Those 707 digs are the second-highest single-season total in school history.

Juniata posted a perfect 36-0 record during the regular season, and won a pair of NCAA Tournament matches before falling in the quarterfinals to NYU, leaving them with a 38-1 mark for the year. Juniata has now had 28 players earn All-America honors during its history, the most of any school in NCAA Division III women?s volleyball history.